In our dreams....

If one were to dream up a list of the attributes of an outstanding environmental education partner, it might include:

* an ability to reach a large audience;

* experts in species life history, habitat, and conservation;

* a professional public relations staff;

* hands-on programs for children;

* a wide range of established partnerships;

* a proven history of fund raising;

* leadership in establishing conservation education consortiums;

* facilities and programs dedicated to conservation of species; and

* a mission of inspiring the community to create a better future for wildlife.

In the Pacific Northwest, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has such a partner: the Oregon Zoo! Yes, our zoo has lions and tigers and bears on display. It also has a snake house, a polar bear swimming pool, and many of the other wonderful things we love to look at from the safety of a glass window or a viewing platform. But the Oregon Zoo has much more than that.

Our zoo has a mission for wildlife that includes captive propagation for endangered and threatened species. It is helping us save a grand bird, a tiny rabbit, and two butterfly species and their host plants, all of which were once abundant in the Pacific Northwest.

The endangered California condor (Gymnogyps californianus), seen soaring above Oregon's Columbia River by Lewis and Clark in 1805, is now part of a captive-rearing program at one of the Oregon Zoo's off-site breeding facilities. It opened in November 2003 and houses 6 breeding pairs, or 12 of the 219 California condors that exist today. Within four months of taking up residence in Oregon, Tama and Mandan, an established breeding pair, produced an egg. When this egg was removed for artificial incubation, Tama laid a second egg. Both eggs hatched; the proud parents are raising hatchling number one, while number two is being reared at the Los Angeles Zoo. This early success of the Oregon Zoo's Condor Creek Conservation Facility has brought tremendous support for completing the flight aviary where young condors can learn survival skills. Even though the remote facility is designed to minimize the exposure of condors to people, a practice that facilitates release to the wild, the Oregon Zoo ensures that people hear the news, see the pictures, and thereby participate in condor conservation activities.

The Columbia Basin distinct population segment of Washington's pygmy rabbit (Brachylagus idahoensis) was emergency listed in 2001 as endangered. Only 30 individuals were known to remain in the wild. These rabbits are the smallest in North America, weighing less than half a kilogram or about one pound. Unlike cottontails and jackrabbits, pygmy rabbits dig burrows, the only American rabbit that does so. The Oregon Zoo developed husbandry techniques to breed pygmy rabbits in captivity. One of the species' few known needs is big sagebrush (Artemisia tridentata), a shrub used for both food and cover. With large swaths of sagebrush country being developed or converted to agriculture, the pygmy rabbit is losing ground throughout its Great Basin historic range. The Oregon Zoo is growing its own sagebrush for rabbit feed--five seedlings a day per rabbit. Two litters of pygmy rabbits were born at the breeding facility in May of this year. A video feed of the rabbits' secluded, hand-built habitat can be quite dull until suddenly a brown blur hops up into the air--boing! The first releases to protected habitat in central Washington should occur next year.

In addition to building habitats for big birds and little rabbits, the Oregon Zoo created a scientifically-planned butterfly conservation lab where they hatch eggs into larvae, and then grow the larvae into pupae to be released into the wild. The Oregon silverspot butterfly (Speyeria zerene hippolyta), a threatened species, was the first to be raised at the lab. Once found in coastal grasslands from northern California to southern Washington, this species is now reduced in range to a few spots on the Oregon coast. Last year, the Oregon Zoo released 293 butterfly pupae at the Cascade Head Preserve, a site managed by The Nature Conservancy and the one remaining stronghold for the species. The zoo brings in fifth graders from a local school to plant western blue violets (Viola adunca), the silverspot's rare host plant. The kids then get to view the rearing process, from eggs in petri dishes to larvae that look like tiny caterpillars under a microscope. The Oregon Zoo is also contributing to the conservation of the endangered Fender's blue butterfly (Icaricia icarioides fenderi) by raising its host plant, the Kincaid's lupine (Lupinus sulphureus spp. kincaidii), itself a threatened species.

"This conservation effort is serving as a model for rebuilding an ecosystem," says Tony Vecchio, Oregon Zoo Director. "We want to involve children in the protection of endangered butterflies so they care about the future of all plants and animals."

The captive breeding programs developed by the Oregon Zoo have led to plenty of environmental education opportunities, from videos of animal releases to science projects for school classrooms. In March of this year, the Oregon Zoo hosted the first Northwest Zoo Conservation Education Consortium. Eight zoos and aquariums sent representatives to compare conservation and education programs and develop partnerships.

"Everyone knows the animals in the tropical rainforest are in trouble," says Vecchio. "Unfortunately, most people don't realize there are many endangered species right here in the Pacific Northwest. Our goal is to gather zoo and aquarium educators and scientists to develop strategies for informing our combined nearly five million annual visitors about the plight of animals in our own backyards."

Ann Carlson, a recovery biologist in the Portland Regional Office, can be reached at 503-231-2374 or [e-mail].